


The Fox Wedding

by ThePinkMug



Series: FMR: Kagema AU [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: FMR - Freeform, Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 22:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18822376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePinkMug/pseuds/ThePinkMug
Summary: At the end of the town’s harvest festival, Ran and Enjolras decided to check the forest near the temple ground to prove the truth of the recent fox-wedding sighting.





	The Fox Wedding

**Author's Note:**

> GLOSSARY:  
>  Gaijin: foreigner  
>  Onnagata: A woman impersonator in kabuki theatre.  
>  Kagema: a young boy prostitute/entertainer.  
>  Washitsu: a Japanese style room  
>  Kotatsu: a heated low table. 
> 
> AUTHOR’S NOTE:  
>  There may be some inaccurate historical depiction in this fiction. Critiques and comments are very much welcomed!  
>  Enjolras was originally created by a friend, Puspitasari, loosely based on Les Miserables' Enjolras. Mori Ranmaru was created by Sara/Hika, loosely based on the historical figure Mori Ranmaru/Mori Naritoshi. They were both originally created for a fanmade Fate/Grand Order-based Role Playing Group.
> 
> \---

> _‘The fox deity is said to be the God of agriculture and harvest. Their blessing means abundant harvest, their curse means famine to come. Erection of their temples is generally aimed to please the foxes and to ensure continuous prosperity in the area.’_
> 
> _‘When one is lucky, one may witness a strange and magical procession called 'the fox wedding’, or the procession of the fox bride. It usually happened deep in the wood. Witnesses say the procession was lit by hundreds and thousands of lantern and blazing bamboos. There were drums and bells accompanying the procession as well. Maybe you will be invited, maybe you can only see. Or maybe you be enchanted and ended up losing your way home.’_

Japan, Early Meiji Restoration era.

“Anzu-san?” Ranmaru called and popped his head into one of the rooms in Enjolras’ residence. He looked around and tilted his head. Nobody was in the room. He went to look for the man in the kitchen, but only found the lady cook stirring what would be a miso soup.

“Tomoko-san, where is Anzu-san?” Ran asked.

“Probably in his study.”

“Thank you!” Ranmaru quickly closed the door and made his way towards the study, humming. His long dark hair swayed behind him as if dancing to the odd, random tune. The boys and the adults in the brothels didn't really like it when he suddenly sings something outside his performance, but Enjolras had never said anything against it, so he would only hum and sang to himself whenever he's at the French scholar's place.

The boy halted in front of what would be Enjolras’ study. He could see two silhouettes sitting on the tatami floor. One of them must be Enjolras. Ranmaru knew how Enjolras looked all too well—he got a rather small waist and narrow shoulder compared to the other westerner, and though he was way taller than Ran, he's also somewhat shorter than the other Westerners. However, Ran liked it. It makes Enjolras looked less foreign to him.

“Anzu-san?” Ranmaru called, “can I come in?”

A short reply came almost immediately. Ran slid the door open and noticed that there were actually two other men in the room. One of them was a brunet; he was young but there were streaks of grey hair on the sides of his head. His nose was crooked at the end, and his moustache was vast it nearly covered his upper lips. The other man had a square face and dark coloured sideburns that extended to his jaws. His brows were bushy, and his nose was rounded in the middle. Ran paused upon seeing them. It's clear that they are in the middle of a conversation, and to barge in the middle of someone else's conversation uninvited is the worse manner one may have.

“Hello, Ran.” Enjolras turned to look at the boy. “Come and have some dango.”

Oh. He would love to have some sweet dango. Ran’s eyes darted to the two foreigners in the room. He had never seen them. Some of Enjolras’ friends were frequent visitors to his place, albeit none of them actually used his extra service. He knew most of them, but not these two. One of them especially caught his attention. Not because he looked strange or especially attractive, but because the said man was looking at him with frowns between his brows and dismay within his eyes.

“Are you in the middle of an important talk?” the boy asked instead.

“Nah,” Enjolras rose and head to the row of shelves he had on one side of the room. He shifted through several boxes he kept there. Ran closed the door and approached him, glancing at the two guests in the room several times as he strode across the room.

“Friends?” he asked as he stood next to the blond-haired scholar.

“Sort of.” Enjolras took a bundle of letters and sorted through some of them, flipping and reading as he shifted through folded handwritten letters, typed forms, and colourful postcards. He gave some of them to Ran, who received the letters in utter confusion.

“I’ve been meaning to show these to you,” the blond scholar pointed to the postcards in Ran’s hands with one hand akimbo, “Asked some of my friends to send postcards from Europe. Thought you may like it.”

It’s Ran’s turn to sort through the postcards. He had his lips parted into a small ‘o’ at some of the pictures. It seemed like everything was made of stone there! Their shape looked very heavy and their walls were decorated with so many statues, a stark contrast with the Japanese’s bare room. Their paintings had so many bright colours too. Unlike the painting he saw a few times, the painting in the postcards had men and women looking like Anzu-san. They wear dresses with frills–he saw some of them on the street. The men wore suit–he saw Anzu-san wore it too once.

“I’ve heard that you have a particularly strange fondness to a Japanese boy,” one of the guests remarked as he watched the exchanges, “so it’s true. Is it also true that he was a prostitute?”

“If you heard that much, you probably have heard the rest of the story as well,” Enjolras replied rather coldly. “I have no obligation to answer such question.”

Ran raised his head and glanced at the guests, then at Enjolras. He understood not a single word as they communicate in French, but it was clear that this blond man was not particularly pleased with the remark.

“Women prostitutes, though frowned at, is something I can consider normal, but a boy prostitute is an outright moral degradation. They're a problem to Japanese society. To befriend them is outrageous, Enjolras.”

“It is none of your business.”

“Oh it is my business as your friend. I just remembered that sodomy is practically legal in France. Pray tell me, do you also use him? Tell me how does it feel–“

The guest didn't get to finish his sentences. Enjolras pulled him up by his collar and dragged him to the door. The man tried to yank the obviously younger scholar’s hand away, but the blond scholar paid his struggle no heed. Ran dropped the postcard he was holding and tried to stop his friend, but the other guest had stood up and stand in between them. He shook his head. Ran looked at him in utter confusion.

“Show yourself out.” Enjolras shoved his guest past the door. “You don't come to my place and return my hospitality by insulting my friend.”

The guest clucked his tongue and fixed his tie. The blond man slammed the door close. One can hear stomping steps  echoing past the hallway.

“Anzu-san what happened—”

“Nothing to worry about.” Enjolras patted Ran on the head.

“He was degrading you being a prostitute, kid.” The other guest returned to his seat and took a sip of his tea. Ran looked at him, amazed at the fact that this guest spoke a very well Japanese. “Your Anzu-san was mad precisely because of that.”

“Oh—”

Ran turned to Enjolras, who had seemed to deliberately ignore the explanation and instead chose to take a bite of the dango. Ran was about to say something but decided to drop the topic in the end. It was clear that the blond haired man didn't want to talk about it.

Ran gathered the postcards he dropped earlier and sat next to Enjolras. He then arranged all the postcards side by side on the table until it took half the space, then went on asking the man next to him a thousand questions. He may no longer sit in the scholar's lap or sway on his back as he used to four years ago, but Ran was still very much Ran. He still tailed the scholar like a younger brother.

“By the way, Anzu-san.” Ran called again after he gulped down his third ball of _dango_ . “Have you heard that people have been seeing _kitsunebi_ recently?”

“No?”

“No? Where have you been, it's quite the latest thing people are talking about in town! Especially since we're having the harvest festival soon.”

“What's a _kitsunebi_?”

“Foxfire! They say if we see and follow a kitsunebi, we may see the fox wedding.”

“Something like jack o' lantern, the will o’ the wisp,” The guest suddenly spoke. Enjolras turned his attention to him, brows raised. “Apparently they have something like that too, here. Some people say you may get spirited away, or as the kid say, you may get to see a fox wedding.”

“Speaking of which, it's almost Halloween too.” Enjolras turned to Ran. “We have kitsunebi too, Ran. We call it Jack o' Lantern.”

“Do you get to see the fox wedding too?” Ran asked.

“No, not really. You just get lost in the wood and die.” The blond scholar chuckled. “When's the harvest festival?”

“At the end of this month!”

“That's Halloween day alright,” the guest chimed in, this time in Japanese. “Maybe you should go check the temple to see if there is a ghost lurking there.”

“I don't believe such stories. They're just mad men rambles.” Enjolras shrugged his shoulder, “I mean, flying fire? Fox wedding? We don't live in the ages of witches again.”

“But they do exist!” Ran insisted. “Oh! Oh, as this gentleman here said, let's go check the temple after the festival. Maybe we can see the fox wedding too.”

“Ran—”

“Yes?”

“I'm pretty sure there's nothing there.”

“What if there is anything there?” the lad rebuked, “aren’t you curious?”

“Not really.”

“Let's bet. If there's anything there, you treat me sweet sesame bun for a week. If there's nothing there, um..”

“I’ll be nice and ask nothing.” The blond-haired scholar sighed, then finally agreed. “Alright, alright. I'll go with you. I'm pretty sure there's nothing there though.”

“And I hope there's something there.” Ran nodded to himself.

 

***

 

Festival day.

“Wah, a _gaijin_.”

“That _gaijin_. They’re the much talked odd couple, you know?”

Enjolras handed Ran a caramel candy on their way to the festival, ignoring the whispers of the women behind them. He told the boy that it's Halloween in Europe get that kids usually get candies on that day. Ranmaru protested, saying that he was not a kid anymore, so if only kids get the candy, he should not get any candy! Nevertheless, he was pretty excited. He ate it rather slowly, savouring the bitter-sweetness as slowly as he could.

Adult as Ran was, Enjolras couldn't help but feel the lad was without a childhood. He could confidently say he had a good childhood. He came from an upper-class bourgeoisie family. His parents were loving. His governess was nice. He went to school, he even went to a higher school. Ran, on the other hand, was sold to sell his body since he was just a brat. At such a young age he knew how to serve and to nurse people to health. Ran didn't even know how to read or write in his own mother language! And so Enjolras felt obligated to at least give the boy a chance to savour some innocent happiness he didn't get to experience in his childhood.

“Oh, I heard. The onnagata saved him and he went home, but then returned for the kid.”

“Maybe he thought the onnagata was a real woman?”

The festival lived up to its name. It was lively. Colourful lanterns adorned the street like glowing beads necklaces. All kind of delicious smell; the sweet, the salty, and the   poured into the air and onto the street. There were kids running about the street. The men were drinking; the women—some of them rearing babies—were bustling about the stalls. There was a parade too, and apparently ceremonial rites to honour the harvest Gods.

As they pass by the crowds, Enjolras could feel some eyes fell on him, perhaps even measuring his height from the head to toe. The whispers grew louder too. Ever since four years ago he realized people are sometimes whispering things behind their back, especially because he's seen so often together with Ran. Some was clearly avoiding him too. He thought it was very rude and all, but stayed silent. He did stand out among the crowd anyway. That and Ran's name wasn't totally unknown too. In fact, he was quite known as a perfect onnagata. He was so pretty and perhaps even as fragile as a flower, just as his name suggested.

“Why are the gaijin coming here anyway? They should stay in their land, not invading others like this.”

“They stay together so much don't they? Do you think the gaijin sleep with the _kagema_?”

“They talk so much their mouth smells like rotting flesh.” Ran groaned, to which Enjolras only reply with a chuckle.

“ _Onnagata_! Go home!” a lad suddenly ran up to them and pointed to Enjolras. “Go home and I hope your ship sink again!”

“Shut up!” Ran stepped forward and pushed the bigger lad away. The lad yelped. He pushed Ran back and went on grabbing his long hair.

“Oi, _Onnagata_! You, shut up!”

Ran gritted his teeth and pulled his silver kanzashi—hairpin—like how one would unsheath a sword. He grabbed the bigger's lad collar and pressed the sharp tip to his neck.

“Ran, don't. Stop it.” Enjolras stepped in and grab the bigger lad's hand to force him to let go of Ran's hair. The bigger lad quickly yanked his hand away and scrunched his nose almost as if the scholar was infected with germs. Enjolras pulled the kagema back by his shoulder too.

“The onnagata should have left you dead back then! Go back to your _gaijin_ land and die there!

Ran was really ready to stab the lad with his kanzashi if Enjolras didn't hold him back.

“Let him be,” the scholar said. “I would have punched him myself if I were that mad—”

“but!”

“Go back to your land!”

“Brat, you shut the fuck up!” Enjolras roared, finally losing his temper. His voice instantly wiped out the entire crowd murmur, including Ran's. The kagema looked up at him, lips parted in utter shock. The scholar scowled, then pulled Ran away from the crowd. The gathering people quickly parted and let them pass.

They reached a quieter alley and their steps slowed down. Ran was still holding his hairpin, its sharp end pointed out dangerously to the road. The blond scholar was still holding his other hand.

“Ran, you ok?” Enjolras asked.

The boy nodded, but then shook his head. His long hair swayed behind him.

“Sorry you got to see that.” the boy muttered, barely loud enough for the foreigner to hear.

“No, I am sorry you got to go through that.” The blond-haired man patted him on the back of his head. Ran looked up at him, then cast his eyes on the ground again, sighed.

“I hate them so much.” The boy combed his hair with his fingers and gathered them all. He bit his kanzashi, twisted his hair into a bun, then held them in place with the silver pin. The bun was not as pretty and as neat as it was, but at least they did not sway behind his back. Ran poked the bun a few times to make sure it won't drop easily, then turned to Enjolras. One can see determination twinkling at the edge of his dark iris, “but not everyone is like that,” he said. “I, for sure, am glad you returned! And you now can speak Japanese on top of that. I like Anzu-san.”

“Although your Japanese _is_ a little weird…” he added.

The blond man raised his brows. He was ready to be touched but the comment on his Japanese just cancelled all the melancholy. He can't be mad, though. It was true.

“Me too, Ran.” The blond scholar patted Ran's head and a brief squeeze on his tiny shoulder. “I'm glad I decided to come back.”

Ran smiled.

“Anyway! Let's check the temple!” Ran pointed to the end of the street and grabbed Enjolras by his wrist. “As you promised, if we get to see the fox wedding, you'll treat me to sweet sesame buns for a week!”

***

The temple was devoid of any signs of life by the time they arrived. Some of the torches were lit and fastened to mark the temple entrances but other than that, the place was enveloped in darkness.

“I told you there's nothing.” the blond scholar said.

“We've just arrived. There's no way they would show themselves right away,” Ran insisted. “Let's make one quick round and see if we can find something.”

Enjolras sighed and gave in to the boy's suggestion. Still, he checked his sleeve pocket to make sure he brought his gun. He wore a rosary around his neck, too. Outrageous as the story might be, there's nothing wrong with preparing for the worst—knowing how superstitious these Eastern people may be.

They made one circle round the temple. Ran checked every backside of all statues and shrines. He poked around nearby forest trees while Enjolras patiently waited for him to finish his inspection. They found nothing anywhere. No signs of the kitsunebi or any spirits and deities around. There were only statues of kitsunes staring down at them with their slanted stone eyes. Enjolras stared back at one of them while waiting for Ran to finish checking the surrounding. He kind of admired the details carved on its face. This particular fox was holding a kind of scroll in his mouth. For sure the statue was carved out of a single stone, yet the amounts of detail put made it looked like it had picked the scroll somewhere else.

The fox winked. Or maybe he imagined the fox winking at him. Anyway, he stepped back and rubbed his eyes. He must be tired.

“There's nothing here.” Ran returned to his side, dejected. He gave the lantern he was holding back to the blond man and sighed. Enjolras looked at him in a part pity, part victorious look.

“I told you so.” Enjolras patted and swayed the lad's head. The younger let him be. He nodded, but still pouted in utter disappointment. Enjolras had not had the heart to see his beloved friend in such state, so he squeezed his shoulder and said, “don't be sad. I'll still get you the sweet sesame bun. Just not for a week.”

“It’s alright. A bet is still a bet. You don't have to do that.” Ran took Enjolras's hand from his head and held on his last two fingers. His 13 years-old self used to do that. He still reverted to that age sometimes.

As they started to leave the temple ground, Ran turned to take a look at the stone statue and the forest one more time. That was when he saw it. There, floating above the stone path leading to the temple's torii gate trail was a tiny, swaying fireball. Its size was no bigger than Ran's tiny fist. Its tip left trails resembled a tail.

“Anzu-san!” Ran hissed and pulled Enjolras. So sudden was the pull, the blond scholar nearly tumbled back if not for his reflexes. He hissed back and was ready to scold Ran, but the lad slapped his arm and gestured to the floating fireball.

“The _kitsunebi_!” Ran whispered.

Enjolras frowned and stared at the fireball. His brain had started to filter all the scientific books and articles he had read, but none seemed to have addressed to this phenomenon. Whatever that thing might be, it was certainly magical, and it certainly fitted both _kitsunebi_ and will-o' the-wisp description.

The fireball swayed left and right—as if trying to find its way. It seemed to have noticed the _torii_ gates, for it paused at the entrance. With a little quiver, it sprinted through the rows of red wooden gates—gold and amber light danced along its trail and off the stone surfaces.

“Let’s follow it!” Ran hurried after the running fire.

“Hey, hey Ran!” Enjolras hissed. He hesitated for a second but ran after the lad nevertheless. He clutched on his necklace, praying so that the holy mother Mary watch after them—so that they won't get spirited away like how all the myths ended.

The flare ran and halted, then turned. It slipped between the red gates and made his way directly into the forest. Ran stopped, too. The light was small and quick, and even before the lad could figure out the gap big enough to fit him, it was already gone.

“Ran—”

“It went there.” Ran pointed to the forest.

“Are we—”

The blond-haired scholar didn't get to finish his sentence. To his horror, Ran had rolled his kimono and climbed past the gate's kissing bases and into the forest. He gestured to Enjolras to promptly follow him.

“Ran it's dangerous!” Enjolras hissed as he peered far into the forest. The trees were dense and dark, and there was nobody but them around. There might be wild beasts or wolves around too!

“it’s fine! Let's just check a few meters in,” Ran insisted. “Give me the lantern.”

Enjolras sighed but handed the lantern to Ran anyway. He too was curious, and he couldn't possibly let Ran venture alone into the woods. It's too dangerous for him. Even with two people, it was still too dangerous but it was clearly a much better choice than letting Ran roam around alone in the woods at this hour.

Sometimes he wondered how and why did he come to love this brat so much, despite knowing how crazy he could be. Oh, and here everyone described him as a serious young man with a strong sense of justice, who was capable of being terrible, whose work often required him to dive headfirst into a heated debate on law and social justice. One would have expected him to yell at Ran, but here he was–babysitting him and was practically giving him whatever he wanted.

Ran squatted and gestured at Enjolras to look at the ground. There, among the grass and the soil, between the mud-soiled stone and yellow flowers were glittering lights resembling the fireflies’ sparks. Only bigger, and instead of a flickering glow akin to the fireflies, they looked like a ball of air set ablaze by tiny fairies. Their flickers were those of fires.

“Maybe if we follow this trail, we’ll find them,” Ran said, nodding to himself. He immediately tugged at Enjolras’s kimono sleeves and followed the glittering trail. The blond-haired man quietly complied, though his mind was busy cursing and whining.

The trail went past the cedar trees and into the forest. The lantern hanging on their hand was the only one illuminating their path. Should one look up, they would see stars beyond the forest canopy, but their lights were so faint and far away. It couldn’t reach the forest floor. Enjolras could faintly hear wolves howling from beyond the woods–thank God they were too far to be an actual threat. The owls hoot and the insects cried too, but other than that, the forest was quiet.

[ Then a jingle of a bell reverberated through the forest. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0z08OpmEPc)

Ran pulled Enjolras to hide behind a tree. The insects had stopped crying, the owls had stopped hooting. All sounds had ceased, and it felt like the woods and every living being in it was holding their breath.

Someone beat a drum, the bells jingled again, and thousands of floating lights emerged from thin air. They stood in a long line that snakes around the trees, parading into the depth of the forest. In a glance, they looked like giant balls of floating fireballs swaying in the air, but they were lights of a thousand of lanterns held by foxes clothed in bright ceremonial clothes. Their reddish fur shone under the lights, their tails swayed behind them. The bigger foxes were standing on their hind legs, some of the smaller ones were walking on all four.

“The fox wedding,” Ran muttered under his breath.

Enjolras stared in complete disbelief. He tried rubbing his eyes and blinked, but the procession was still there. They were beating drums and shaking bells. They really were standing on their hind legs, and their kimonos were as colourful as the flowers blooming on the riverside in early summer. Some of them had begun dancing too.

The foxes were so absorbed in their parade they did not notice the two’s presence. The procession went deeper into the wood, and as the beating of their drums fadex]d away, their lights began to vanish too. Soon enough, the insects began crying and the owls had started hooting again. The path where the foxes passed a few moments ago was now empty. Only traces of glittering, seemingly magical lights covered the otherwise a mere muddy path.

“They’re gone,” Ran stepped out of their hiding place and looked around. “The foxes had left.”

Enjolras was still staring into the depth of the forest. He was still trying to remember if there was any scientific explanation to such a phenomenon, yet, the whole scene was too magical, too illogical, and too absurd to be anything scientific. It seemed like for now, he just had to believe that the fox wedding truly existed.

“Anzu-san?”

“ _Oui_ –” Enjolras turned, surprised. Ran was looking up at him, first with concerned, round eyes, then with a smug.

“So I am getting the sesame bun, right?”

Enjolras raised his brows. Seriously, that’s the first thing he said after all those magical parades? Yet, he couldn’t help but   at the question.

“Yes,” he said. “Yes, you are. Let’s go back before we lost our way, Ran.”

They tried tracing the path back, but the forest was quite dense and the tree looked all the same to them. The glittering lights on the forest floor had gone, too. They tried taking a straight path, but it felt like they were taking a detour.

Fear had started creeping out Ran’s legs. He felt kind of guilty for dragging Enjolras along with him without even a second thought. What if they had to spend the night in the forest? He knew this place quite well, but even with only one lantern to light their path, everything seemed the same to him. He glanced to the blond-haired man walking next to him. He seemed calm, but his brows were knotted deep.

“Anzu-san, there’s someone.” Ran grabbed Enjolras’ sleeves and hid behind him. Enjolras raised the lantern and sure enough, an old man was treading the same path with them. He looked like in he was in his seventies. All his hair had turned white and was pulled back. He had with him a very warm smile, and while he did so, the wrinkles behind his eyeglasses deepened. This man seemed to be a Catholic clergyman. He was donning a long, dark gown with a piece of fabric tied around his waist. It was also clear that he was not of a Japanese descendant.

“Do you think we should ask for a way?” Ran whispered.

The blond-haired scholar did not answer him. The presence of this old man bothered him. What kind of a clergyman walks alone in a woods, at this hour? And he had no lantern with him.

Nevertheless, Enjolras waved his hand. The old man stopped in his track and smiled at them. He said nothing.

“Excuse me sir, but you seem to know this place well. We are looking to return to the temple.”

The old man nodded and pointed to a direction.

Ran stared at the man in part awe, part confusion. Something about this person didn’t feel right, but what was it, he couldn’t say. At least until he looked down and saw the old priest was actually floating. Instead of a pair of feet, his body was gradually vanishing into thin air.

“Anzu-san…” Ran quietly squeezed Enjolras’ wrist. His heart was drumming so hard he thought it was about to leap out from his rib cages.

Enjolras ignored him, but Ran could feel his hand shaking. It seemed like the blond-haired scholar had realized that they were not talking to a human being. Yet for them to panic may only invoke his wrath. Running away wasn’t an option too.

“I see. Thank you very much.” Enjolras nodded and turned toward the direction the old man was pointing at. He grabbed Ran by his wrist and hastened his pace, trying to appear as calm as possible. He was sure he was supposed to be dying from a heart attack, but the fear of getting chased by the old man ghost kept him alive. Not even for a second, he thought that the direction given to them could as well be a one way path straight to their death.

They were lucky that the ghost didn’t seem to possess such intention. The trees started to clear out soon enough. They could finally see the red gates leading to the temple.

As soon as their feet reached the temple stone path, both of them started running for their life. Neither one of them dared to look back. Only when they finally arrived at the market area, where there are more people and the street was bright, that they finally stopped running.

Enjolras propped himself on his knee as he tried to breath. His legs were trembling from both running and fear. His heart was still drumming, his face was still pale and wet with cold sweat. Ran was leaning to the nearest wall he could find beside him. He was also wet with sweat and pale with fear.

“We’re safe, we’re safe.” Ran gasped.

Enjolras simply nodded in agreement. He couldn’t spare even a second of breath to reply Ran. One passerby asked if they’re okay and if they needed help. But Enjolras simply waved his hand and bowed down to tell her that they were fine, only need to catch their breath.

They could only calm down after a few minutes. Ran had to re-tie his hair because it had practically come down after the sprint. So did Enjolras.

“I don’t think I can sleep alone tonight,” Ran said as he spun his hair and fixed it with his _kanzashi_. He still repeatedly looking back to make sure the ghost did not go after them. “Can I stay in your place…”

“Alright.” Enjolras fixed his mantle and wiped out the sweat from his forehead. “It’s kind of far to the teahouse too.”

“Anzu-san wouldn’t be able to sleep alone too, right?”

“Silly. There’s no way I’d be freaked out by such thing.”

Ran chuckled and dusted his kimono. Whether it was a lie or it was true, he did not actually care.

***

Enjolras did get Ran the sweet sesame bun he wanted for breakfast. The _kagema_ sat and ate the bun while nodding, half asleep. He lacked sleep; he kept on waking up at the slightest noise coming from the ceiling. Only after he decided to climb into Enjolras’ blanket that he could finally get some rest. To his envy, the blond-haired scholar was fast asleep. He was only woken up when Ran climbed to his side and said he couldn’t sleep.

“Why don't you get some more sleep, Ran.” Enjolras laughed at the boy's apparent drowsiness. “You don't perform that much anymore anyway.”

“I don’t know,” Ran yawned and slumped on the table, one hand still holding the half-eaten bun. “I didn’t say anything to them last night. I’d imagine everyone is freaking out now.”

Not even a second after Ran finished his sentence, the lady helper came knocking on the door. Enjolras got her. She said there was a guest waiting at the front door, and that she was asking for a _kagema_ named Ranmaru.

“Speak of the devil.” Enjolras chuckled. He briefly returned to the room and told Ran he had a guest, and that he’d come back in a while. The scholar rushed out to meet his guest– a woman in her fifties. He remembered her from the days he stayed in the tea house. She hadn’t changed even for a bit. Anyway, the lady asked if Ranmaru had bothered the scholar again and if he was staying there for the night, to which Enjolras affirmed. He lied a bit. He said Ranmaru wasn’t feeling well and that a doctor is on his way to check on him so he may not return for the day.

The lady did not question his statement and simply bowed in gratitude. She left, and Enjolras returned to the _washitsu_ after giving a passing stray cat some pats on the head.

“I told the lady that you’re staying here because you’re feeling unwell,” the scholar said as he took his seat.

Ran raised his brows. He gulped down his bun and tilted his head. “I am not sick, though?”

“I know. But she didn’t say anything and you can just go back to sleep.”

Ran blinked and laughed sheepishly. He didn’t even think that Enjolras would care _that_ much for a very simple thing. Ran used to sleep late and wake up early to work, the scholar must have known that well. The fact that he was forced to take a day out because they met a ghost did not sit well with him–not because he didn’t appreciate it, just because nobody had ever done such thing.

“Anyway, Anzu-san,” Ran called after he finished his bun, “last night was still surreal for me.”

“It was.”

“We were not dreaming, weren’t we?”

“I asked the lady helper this morning. She said she always gave the temple a visit in the morning,” Enjolras said, “She said the monk staying there said that the forest trail was covered by foxes’ poop.”

Ran’s eyes widened and lit up. “So it was true!”

The blond-haired scholar shrugged his shoulder. “I guess you were right.”

“I told you! I was right!”

Ran ended up sleeping under the _kotatsu_ for the rest of the chilly morning. Enjolras gave him a pillow and sat next to the sleeping boy, just in case he was still scared. He brought with him a fresh stack of paper and a bottle of ink. He dipped his pen, tested it out on a spare paper, and began writing:

_The Fox Wedding–an illogical phenomenon in the Japanese forest._


End file.
